Vigil Held For San Jose Student Musician Killed By Caltrain

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SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — A candlelight vigil was held Thursday night for a San Jose high school student musician killed Tuesday when he was stuck by a train near the San Jose Diridon station, a family member said.

Donae Johnican, 16, a junior at Lincoln High School in San Jose, was struck and killed by train No. 263 south of Diridon station near West Virginia Street at about 4:05 p.m.

Tonight’s vigil, held outside of the Silicon Valley De-Bug at 701 Lenzen Ave. in San Jose, is focusing on memories of Donae and his musical talent, his uncle Shamako Noble said.

“We’ve been a part of each others lives from the beginning,” Noble said. “He was really a beloved human being.”

His uncle recalled meeting Donae as an infant the day after he was born. Donae was raised by a single-mom after his father was shot and killed while his mother was pregnant.

“I think we were all lucky to have had him,” Noble said.

Many memories associated with Donae center around music, as he was an aspiring musician and guitar player at Lincoln, a high school for the performing arts.

Noble said he will always remember Donae’s rendition of the 2010 Travie McCoy and Bruno Mar pop song “Billionaire.”

Donae was also active at Silicon Valley De-Bug, a youth and family community center. He won a contest at the center held at the end of 2012 as part of a campaign to promote education and music, family friend Raj Jayadev said.

His family described Donae as a musical prodigy who got into singing and guitar playing in middle school.

Donae’s music, videos and photographs from his performances over the years are on display at tonight’s vigil, Noble said.

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